Mobile search and send to phone

I admit that I always have been a bit rough on the mobile community. It's not that I am not a believer; it is simply that I believe that the industry is a bit ahead of consumer adoption and carrier cooperation. For example, seven years ago I just wanted a phone. Not a phone camera. Not a phone with Web access. Just a phone. Of course, those were the days of the great cell phone versus PDA battle in which we all asked ourselves which device would slowly fade away. My how things have changed.

It is clear that the phone has won out, slowly gobbling up the functionality of multiple electronic devices. Camera? Check. PDA? Check. Music? Check. Video? Check. As technology simultaneously shrinks the size and improves the quality of each of these standalone devices, the phone has become increasingly central to our lives. I worry less about leaving my keys or wallet at home than I do about leaving my cell phone behind.

And now it appears that the phone just might replace my need for pen and paper.

Or so it seemed last weekend, when a Google Maps search for a local taxi service reminded me that I could send the number directly to my phone with the aptly named "send to phone" offering. While this functionality has been around for awhile, this consumer either didn't see it or simply chose not to adopt until this past weekend. My interest was peaked. After all, how many times have I lost scraps of paper with handwritten directions? Countless.

And it doesn't stop there. Google "send to phone" functionality is also available via a Firefox extension for easily transmitting important Web content to the now ubiquitous phone.

For Yahoo loyalists, there is a similar offering with a bit more marketing spin: "With the new Send to Phone feature from Yahoo, you can turn your phone into your personal assistant. You can send and store names, phone numbers, addresses and cross-street info on your mobile phone for easy access on the road whenever you might need it." And of course, MSN also added the same functionality about a year ago.

If you are wondering where Ask happens to be in this mix, it is actually sister company CitySearch that takes the cake, creating an additional sponsorship opportunity within the small "send to phone" box. That's right, when selecting to send information for a local firm to your phone, you get the opportunity to see yet another ad. Perhaps I won't give up my pen and paper quite yet.

Next Article in Digital Marketing

Sign up to our newsletters

Best of... Weekly

Daily Insider

Events Weekly

Hot List of the Day

Sponsored Promotion

Whitepaper of the Day

DMNTech Roundup

DMNTech Sponsored Promotion

Company of the Week

Brightcove is the world's leading video platform. The most innovative and respected brands confidently rely on Brightcove to solve their most demanding communication challenges because of the unmatched performance and flexibility of our platform, our global scale and reliability, and our award-winning service. With thousands of customers and an industry-leading suite of cloud video products, Brightcove enables customers to drive compelling business results.

Career Center

Check out hundreds of exciting professional opportunities available on DMN's Career Center.
Explore careers in digital marketing, sales, eCommerce, marketing communications, IT, data strategies, and much more. And don't forget to update your resume so employers can contact you privately about job opportunities.

Coverage

Resources

User Center

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in any form without prior authorization.
Your use of this website constitutes acceptance of DMN's Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions.